Water-heater construction.



F. L. 0. WADSW'ORTHT WATER HEATER CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED FEB.19, 1916 1,24%,017. Patented Oct-16,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESS.-

ATTORNEYS.

F. L. O. WADSWORTH.

WATER HEATER CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, 1.9.15.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

KSHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR F. L. 0. WAD SWORTH WATER HEATER CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FlL ED FEB.19| 19,16.

Patented Oat. 16,1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

' object the PIOVlSlfllLOi an actuating l supplyy valve hichrbe" comesoperative only when the heater coils a mare FFHJEW WATE -HEATERoofnsrnuo'rrono weenie. j

, Applicationfi1edFebruary 19,;1916. iserialNon79g307.

To alt-107m) item/(4y concern."

Be it known thatli, ERANKIJ. Qi lViinse Woirrn', a citizen. of theUniteasmtes, reside ing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Alle-i gheny andState of Pennsylvania, have in} vented certain new and useful "Improvemerits in "l/Vatei'l'leater Constructions;of

which the following is :a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in Water heater). construct on andhasior ts;

t he cha Iusm for the i.

or; receptacle is being suppliedwith Water,

stat elementimmersed in the aterl being;

heated. In theinechanism I iuse the move merits of a Watenactuatedmember-not to directly at'fect the, opening or closing of the l iuelvalve but only to bringthetherinostatioally actuated parts intooperative relation: ship withithe,

rises above this point. various figures of the drawings Which-$013111cally reliable.

v In the accompanying drawings Which" show certain illustrativeembodiments of-the invention' 1 Figures 1 and i2 el valve partsaso thatsaidv valve will be closed When the temperature As shownyni the arerespectively front and side elevation of ione'iocf theordinaryi forms ofniultiplewoil instantaneous grater heaters with my improvement appliedthere-l to; Fig. 3 a central SEC-H011; on an enlarged scale 'through thefornnof control mocha:

nism which is slw'Wn in 1 and i2;

and

Figs. 4,5 and 6 are similar views iofunod-ifiedforms oficontrol applcable to the same or different forms'of hot Watertheatcrs. i

are the upperi coils of theheater; Dis the lower 1 reverse vQOIl 1connected to the :upper a Referring first to thegeneral:arrangement atthe heater q iartsas shownu n Figs. 1- and 2, A is the casing ofatheheatemw Biand iO ring; and K is the casingof the Water prespistonchamloer 2 containing the water actu-v ate'd member of the controlmechanism, and! 3 ndicates'thepipeleadingfrom said piston chamber 1 tothe upper end of the heater 7 coils After passing through "these coils65' and ltlie lower connected coils C and D the ater emerges from theout-let i and enters the lower end of a thermostat chamber tn andiioWsuip ard. therethrough to the outlet p pe 6 connectednvith the housesupply 70. system. The piston chamber 2 contains a liquid: actuated:piston n'iember 7 which is ofithe centraldischarge ilningalow type: Thecentral conical of this" piston engages When ithe piston isinits loweror closed position-witha conical plugs, Whichis seated inprojeotingaboss 9 on the lowerv head of the piston chamber 2, andispressed upwardly into engagement with the conical bore of the piston77 by means of the spring; 8 10. The ,stemdl is secured at its upper endto the central hub of the piston 7, passes down I through a stuffing box12 in the-cap covering the end of the bossD, and carries atits lowerendan adjustable thumb nut 13 WlliCh'llS adapted toengage with a lever14? The said lever: l-fis pivoted at 15, and is held down by a'spring 16attached iZO'Tl tS outer end, the tension of this spring-beingadjust-ably'controlledrby-the screw 17 The thermostat chamber 5containsa composite copper-iron, or copper-porcelain thermostat elementof the usual. construction, the positive copper element :18 beingsecured in its lower end to the adjacent portion ofthe thermostatchamber 5, and the negative iron or porcelain element 19 beingisecuredin itsupper end tothe positive element-18 and provided at its lowerendwvith an ad justable knife edge or pivot point 20 which 1 is adaptedto engage with the short arm of a therumstat lever 21. ihis thermostatlever:

is vinounted on a double pivot pointsupportr 22 {one oflthese pivotpoints being'in front and theotherato the learnt the plane of the ldrawings) which is fixed not to the-frame of the' mechanism as in theusual construe tion but to a pivotedgmember 23 whichwisprovided-With aknife edge ,Q4ebearing on the Q lever 14,: the normal o position: ofthe: 1

members being such that when' the said lever v 14 is in its lowestposition the thermostat lever 21 is'entirely out of engagement with theknife edgeor pivot point 20. Thethermostat lever21 is perforated for thefree passage of the valve stem 11, and engages atits outer endwith anadjustable thumb nut onthe stem 26 of the gas valve 27.

This gasvalve is normally held against.

its seat both by the pressure of its own spring 28 and also by thepressure of the spring 16 which acts upon the stem 26 through the mediumof adjustable collars 29 engaging with the lower face of the lever 14.When this gas valve is'againstits seat all flow of fuel from the gassupply pipe G' to' the gas deliverypipe I is cut oil;

and in the position of parts shown in'F 3 it is obvious that no'movement of the gas valve 27 can be effected by the expansion orcontraction ofthe thermostat parts 18 and 19.

The operation of the above described device is as follows: When a flowofwater 1s started'through the heat'erby openinga tap in the housesupply pipe 6, the pressure on the upper side of the piston 7 isreduced, and the pressure of the water in the supply pipe 1, and inthelower part of the piston chamber communicating therewith lifts thepiston 7 away from the conical valve plug 8 and allows the water to flowthrough the central.

p ston opening to the water inlet pipe3 of the heater coils. The form ofthe valve plug 8- is such that a very considerable upward movement ofthe piston 7 is necessary to establish the'required opening for thedelivery:

of the required amount of water to, the

heater coils. even when the heater is only delivering its minimum supplyof water. Thisupward movement of the piston 7 lifts I the valve stem 11,and with it the lever 14 until the outer end of the said lever isbrought into engagement with an adjustable screw stop 30, which limitsand determines both the upward movement of-the lever and of the wateractuated member 7. The lift ing of this lever relieves the gas valvestem 26 from the pressure of thespring 16, but thegas valve stillremains closed under the pressure ofits own spring 28, until it is actedupon independently by the thermostatically controlled parts. These partsare brought into operative engagement with the valve parts by theraising of the pivoted member 23, and with it the thermostat lever2liuntil the latter is brought against the. knife edge or pivot point 20of the thermo f stat member 19. As soon as this occurs the gas valve isbrought under the control of" the thermostat and remains under itscontrol as long asthe lever 14 is held in its elevatedposition bv theflow of water through the heaterf, thetemperature of the fiow mgwateris' below the "point at-which the thermostat may be set to out offthe gas the pressure of the part 2-0 against the short arm of thethermostat lever 21 lifts the long end of the latter and with itthe gasvalve 27, thusallowingzfuel to flow from the pipe G to the pipe I andthence to the main burners of the heater where it is ignited by theordinary pilot light supplied independently with through-the pipe 31Then the temperature of the flowing water rises above the as r in theabove described operative relation I ship to each other by the operationof the lever .14; :But. when the flow of water is stoppedthepressure onthe two sides of the water-actuated member 7 is equalized, and thelatter ,member is returned to its lower position'both bvtheaction ofgravity, and

bv the action of the spring 16 on the lever.

14' The downward. movement of the arm 14 releases the thermostat lever21 from engagement withthe member 20; and the gas valve is closednomatter whatmay be the temperature of the waterin the heater at thattimeboth bv the action of its own spring 28 and by the action of thespring 16 which, as already explained, then exerts pressure on the valvestem-26 through the engagement of the lever-'14- with theadjustablecollars 29. If. when the flow of water is stopped, the wateractuated member 7 should from any cause he held in its upper position nodamage can result from suchv sticking, since the control. mechanism willstlll' contlnue to act in such a case in the same manner as it doeswhile the water is But suchsticking of the water flowing. piston 7 inits elevatedposition can be overcome, if desirerh by providing itscentral opening with spring controlled check valve :32 which willprevent the backward I flow of liquid from the heater coils to theliquid in the water main. Under such circumstances the heating oftheinclosed liquid inthe heater coils will exert a positive pressure on theupper sideof the piston 7, and will thus force 1t back to its seatthereby permitting 'thelever 14 to fall. and disen gage the thermostatlever from operative engagement with the thermostat. If desiredthe'upper end of thethermostat cham her 5 can be provided witha passagewayv 33'leading to the upper portion of the piston chamber 2,th'e pistonchamber endof thi's passage way 33' being so located that i't will beopenetliwhen; the piston T is in its lowest positionQand closed as seen"as the "piston is raised in this wav a circulating port can be providediv-inch will permit the water in the heater coils to circulatcfreelythrough-the" icrmostat chainher 5 between the outlet lla-hd the inlet ofthe heater COllS' when no water is being discharged new the latter;

u 5 it will-be observed that the operation of this mechanisminvolves-the action oi only two springs, to-wit; the gas valve spring and thenlan'iflspr ng lfi the latterserving not only to return the wate racti'ia ted member to itsnutial position when'the flow of liqu d isstopped; but also serving to posrtive ly close the easvalveh'l', if thegas valve lroni the Va-terinain to thepi'ston chan'iloer aid Eu listwater actuator =25and35 ind icates 'the pipe leading :troin this pistonchainberto the inlet connection 3 which communicates with the upper endindicates the outlet troinwthe low end of these heater coils whichC(JInlTl llHlCJtQS with the thermostat c amber 5'; and h". indicatesthe' pi pelead- "l ng from theupperend ofthis thermostat chamber tothewhouse supply systein. The iem'ber-W which iswused in very similar inits .genpiston member 1 7 which is usedin 1 1g. 8,]save that the centralopening throughthis p. on member "is not closed by a plug, but is cldsedwhen no water is fiowing through the heater-by the engageineut or theend otthe conical boss ldwith the outer or lei-thand face ofthe pistonmom floor 7 by the pressure ot the .s 'iring 3T. Thestem l l ot'f thewater actuated member this construoti n eral 1 in to th;

whichcngages with'the up,-

. per end of a lever 59 which is pivoted at 15.

on the frame of a control mechanism and which is alsopivoted at. itslower end at 88to the upper end of the lever 21. The latter engages atits lower end with an adjustable thinnh nut 25 on the gas valve stem 26.The gasval've 27 is normally held against its seat by the spring 28 thuspreventing any flow of fuel from the gas supply pipe G to the gasdelivery pipe I.

To the left of the lever 21" is a second lever 14 pivoted at 40 andprovided with a set screw l1 bearing against the lever 21. Springs 12and d3. mounted upon rods ll and 4&5 press the ends of the levers i land outer end an adjustable,

2 39,'rcspectively to the lett. The thermo- Stutlll the casing 5 is ofthe liquid type 'coinprising a pair ot tubes all; connected at theirupper ends and opening at their lower ends into a chamber 47; containingasuit- 3 a1 1e liquid. The chamber 457 communicates 1 the interior oithediaphragm 48-pinvided w'th akn'ite edge itlbearing against the lever14:.

- hen'tlieoutlet'froni the heater is opened 1 the piston '7 is in ved tothe right causing thejlowcr end of the lever 39 to more to the left. Theswinging of the upper end of the lever 21 to the left :causes the lowerend to more to the right opening'the valve 2 7. i

Vi hen thewater in the heater rises above a prcdete mined temperaturethe expansion (if-the liquid in the thermostat causes the lniit'e edge4:9 to move to the right, thus icausing the movement of the setisci'ewell to the left. This movement permits the :lower end of the lever 21tO-IH'OVB tothe .Lle-ft perinitting the closing otlthe gas valve27.

Fig. illustrates another modification ot the invention wherein G is thegas admission pipe; 5 is the thermostat casing to which the water fromthe, heater is supplied through the connection 4 IS and 19 arethermostatic parts corresponding to, the parts 18 and 19 of Fig.8; isthe cold water admission pipe; 7 is the water piston and 3 is theconnection leading to the upper :coil of the heater.

The thermostatic element 19 its end hearingagainst a set screwoO carriedby the lever l-lpivoted upon the fixed knife-"edge 52; The left-hand Iend of the lever is pressed upward by the spring and carries 7 a setscrew 5%.

the tel'nperature of the water rises above a predetermined point theexpansion of the tube 18 permits the rod 19 to move down the spring atsuch time moving the lefthand end of the lever 1& and the set screw 5 tcarried thereby upward. This upward movement of the set screw 5% allowsthe lever 21 and the gas valve stem 26 to move up, thus closing the gasvalve.

Fig. 6 illustrates still another modification wherein G is the gasadmission pipe; 27 is the gas valve yieldingly closed by the spring witha set screw 64.

28 I is the gas delivery pipe; 1 is the water pipe; 7 is the waterpiston; 3 is the water pipe leading to therupper coil of the heater; 5isthe thermostat casing to which the hotwater of the heater is suppliedfrom the connection 45; and 18 and 19 are thermostatic elements, thelower end of the element 19? being provided with the bearing screw 67.The gas valve 27 is provided with a stem 26 pivoted to the end of thelever 21?, the. upper end of such 21 lying between the set screws 60 and6t.

' When the outlet from the heater is opened .the water piston moves tothe left causing the upper end of the lever 62'and the 'set screw 6 L to'move to the right. The

7 set screw 64: engages the upper end of the lever21 carrying it againstthe set screw 60, after which the lower end of the lever 21 is moved totheleft opening the gas valve 27 When the water of the heater risesabove a predetermined. temperature the expansionof the element 18permits the element 19 to move up thelower end of the lever 14c movingvto-the right under the in fiuence of the spring 61. This movementpermits the bearing end of the lever 21 to move to the right, thuspermitting the closure of thegas valve under the influence of the spring28 a a VVhatI claim is:

1. In combination in a Water heater, a water container havingan inletand outlet, a gas burner, a conduit for supplying gas to the burner, ayieldingly closed gas valve in the conduit, a 'pressure operated membergoverned in its movements by changes of pressure induced by opening andclosing the outlet from the container, a thermostatic ele:-

ment moved by changes in the temperature of the Water, and lever meansfor opening the gas valve connected to the pressure operated member, thesaid lever means being out of contact with the thermostatic element whenthe outlet Copies of this patent may be obtained for neael from thecontainer is closed, but brought into contact therewith by the movementof the pressure operated member when the outlet from the container isopened, and the said thermostatic element being operative to control theposition of the gas valve while in contact with the lever means. v

2. In combination in a Water heater,- a water container having an inletand outlet, a gas burner, a conduit for supplying gas to the burner, ayieldingly closed gas ;valve in the conduit, a pressure operated membergoverned in its movements by changes of pressure induced by opening andclosing the outlet from the container, a; thermostatic element moved bychanges in the tempera ture of the wateryand lever means for open ingthe gas valve connected; to the pressure operated member, the said levermeans being out of operative engagement with the ther mostatic elementwhenthe outlet fromthe container is closed, but brought into pivotalcontact therewith by the movement of the pressure operated member whenthe outlet pressure induced by opening andclosing' the outlet fromthegcontainer, a thermostatic element moved by changes in thetemperature of the water, a leverhaving a movable fulcrum intermediateits ends and a connection for opening thevalve on one sideyot' suchfulcrum, a .pivotbetween the thermostatic element and the lever. on theother side of such fulcrum but with the parts out of contact when theoutletfrom the container' is closed, and means operative from thepressure operated member when the outlet from the container is openedfor moving the fulcrum of the lever so as to bring the thermostaticelement, and lever into pivotal engagement, so that the gas valve isunder the control ofthe thermostatic element while J the said outlet isopen;

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents. Washington,D. G. v

